The Restoration Archives
A major preoccupation for the partners has been to ensure that the Stowe Project offers an immediate, clear and unambiguous gain for Great Britain's heritage. This starts with the belief, endorsed by the National Trust, that without Stowe School this marvellous place would have been lost in the 1920s. It is strengthened by the School's willingness to lease the Grade I listed buildings and the Orangery to The Stowe House Preservation Trust in return for an occupational Underlease and to pass to The National Trust a range of assets in Stowe's gardens so that the gardens may be united. It concludes with the confidence of the partners in their capacity to continue to work together for the joint benefit of all parties and the nation.
On 16 October 1998 the Heritage Lottery Fund announced that its trustees had made a grant offer of £4,917,600 to the Stowe House Preservation Trust for the restoration of the North Front and Colonnades at Stowe. In addition to the standard Heritage Lottery Fund grant conditions the contract between the Stowe House Preservation Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund contained twenty-three special conditions that had to be satisfied before the grant could be agreed. Key among the special conditions were:

Detailed negotiations and work followed and by March the Heritage Lottery Fund were content that the conditions had been or would be met and the Contract was signed on 30 March 1999.
The Stowe House Preservation Trust trustees and officials are:

Adrian Evans, a founding trustee, resigned on relinquishing his appointment as a Stowe School Governor in November 1999.
Protracted legal negotiations were held relating to the 99 year lease from Stowe School to the Stowe House Preservation Trust and the lease from the Trust to the School for 99 years less one day and the granting of the Charity Commission Order agreeing that the transfer of the House between the two charities was in the interests of both parties and could be done at no cost. Final approval of the underlease was given by the Heritage Lottery Fund in December 1999.
The Lease and Underlease were signed in late January 2000 with an effective date of 1 January 2000. Thus two and a half years after it was established the Stowe House Preservation Trust officially came into being with the acquisition of the House it is to restore and preserve for the benefit of the nation and public. The Trust's wholly owned trading subsidiary, Stowe House Enterprises Limited (SHEL), began trading from 1 February 2000.
Concurrent with work on the leases and Charity Commission Order, work to appoint the project consultants was tendered in accordance with the Public Service Contract and European Union Procurement rules and the following appointments were approved by the Heritage Lottery Fund:

The Heritage Lottery Fund appointment Miss Zo‘ McMillan of English Heritage as their Project Monitor.
Realising that bureaucratic delays were in danger of closing off the opportunity of starting the works on site in the summer of 2000 with the inherent risk of increased costs to the project, the Trustees agreed that work should start in advance of the final approval needed from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the drawdown of funds. Work began on 4 October 1999 and the first Project Management report dated 3 December 1999 records that extensive opening up of the existing fabric and the Architect/Engineer's investigations that were required to provide information for the detailed cost plan had been carried out. The tender procedure for the works contract began in December 1999. There were 18 expressions of interest and in accordance with Public Service Contract and European Union Procurement rules the selection of five contractors to be included on the tender list was made by the Works Sub-Committee. This work was completed by 1 May 2000. The contract was awarded to Mowlem Rattee & Kent in late June, and work on site began on 10 July 2000. The Project Programme envisaged was:
Pre-Contract Phase : 4 October 1999 - 4 August 2000
Post-Contract Phase : 7 August 2000 - 9 September 2002
Post-Contract Sub-Phase 1 : East and West Colonnades and east and West Forecourt Walls : 7 August 2000 - 30 June 2001
Post-Contract Sub-Phase 2 : Central Pavilion North Front, Portico, Steps, Porte-Cochere and East and West Screen Walls : 1 July 2001 - 30 June 2002
Post-Contract Sub-Phase 3 : North Forecourt : 1 July 2002 - 9 September 2002
The enabling works for the project, principally the provision of carparking spaces to replace those which would be lost from the North Front, started on 10 July 2000.
R Litherland, Secretary - Stowe House Preservation Trust, 22 June 2000



Achievement
Considerable public benefit has accrued from the restoration. One of the most important changes has been the installation of an access lift, allowing people unable to use the exterior steps to access to the piano nobile and the principal State Rooms. Since the start of the restoration work, access to Stowe House for the public has increased to over 100 days a year.
The Heritage Lottery Fund made a major grant of £5.5 million towards Phase Two. Much of the balance of the £8.26 million cost was raised by the Stowe House Preservation Trust but further donations are still needed for Phase 3.



The Marble Saloon
The magnificent elliptical hall, the Marble Saloon, built between 1775 and 1778, must be one of the most spectacular rooms of its kind in the country. Its inspiration with its fine classical architecture is clearly the Pantheon in Rome and the Parthenon in Athens.
The elliptical shaped Dome itself is an amazing feat of plasterwork, 17 metres high, with nearly every one of the 160 coffers being different in shape and size because of its elliptical design, all bound together by oak leaves of victory. The oculus at the apex of the dome just over 5 metres long, seems to be supported by the arms of those who initiated its building, the first Earl Temple, and the first Marquis of Buckingham, who completed it at the west and east ends respectively.
The Marble Saloon gets its name from the floor of Carrara marble - over seventy-two four-foot squares. The sixteen columns in the Saloon which appear to be marble are actually a form of plaster known as "scagliola". Bartoli created these in imitation of Sicilian jasper. The bases and capitals are of white marble and support the Roman Doric entablature with masks of satyrs.
Above this is a superb carved triumphal frieze depicting in high relief a procession of triumphant soldiers coming home to a great welcome as they carry the spoils of war. Made in plaster, it features nearly 300 figures. It is one of the earliest neo-classical sculptures of its type in the country.
The twelve niches around the perimeter of the Saloon were designed for eight antique statues and four torcheres for the central bays, are all now empty: only two torcheres remain at Stowe.
Over the years, the Marble Saloon has created a magnificent venue for many events and gatherings. Such is its impressiveness that it was chosen for the lying-in-state of the Pretender to the French throne, the Comte de Paris in 1894. More recently it thrilled the guests as a superbly resonant concert hall during a reception for His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales.



How you can help
The Stowe House Preservation Trust is a registered charity (number 1066272). The Campaign for Stowe is currently raising funds for the next phase of restoration and every little amount helps. Alternatively, you could choose to volunteer.

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